Shadows Brought to Light
by cnrbanks1212
Summary: Hammerfell. The desert encompassed expanse that holds as many mysteries as it does treasures. However devastation has been wrought against the ancient land and now Deerkaza, the hero of Kvatch, must travel to the land in search of survivors of the Sand. (Rated M for brutal violence and gore) (Be aware I do not own Oblivion or the Elderscrolls series, although I wish I did)


Shadows brought to Light

3E 440

The Traitor sat in silence as he half meditated and half considered the prospects of his future. It had been over ten months since he was thrown, rather unceremoniously into the very wet cell that now housed him every day until he either died or the power changed and he was let out. He had seen it a few before on a smaller scale, men with power would gradually want and receive more power until they would establish a way in which they could more appropriately control that power and allow them to have a more correct chokehold from which they would be able to draw more power to them. However the fate of such men was often the same, in which similarly ambitious men would recognize the increase in the man's or organization's power and seek to put an end to such the power or to absorb said power.

"You'll never see the marsh lands again, Lizard," echoed down the rather empty hall that was his cell block, originating from the cell directly across from himself. The denizen of that cell was a Dark Elf seemed to love mocking or attempting to create anxiety within any other unfortunate cellmate that happened to cross his path. The Traitor, attempting to stop any worry or emotion from appearing on his face to dissuade the onslaught of mockery sat, as usual, silent. It wasn't like the prospect of Black Marsh was open to begin with as that bridge had been torched straight into oblivion. He was a renegade Shadowscale who had retreated from Argonia soon after the he had refused a contract. Why he had refused the contract and what the contract had entailed was another long and difficult question altogether. Regardless, as a punishment for this along with his banishment, he had his name stripped from him, leaving only "The Traitor".

Why he was in jail was another matter which could be more easily explained. He opened his eyes for the first time that day, revealing the dark red irises that accompanied his abnormally pale scales giving him a frosty complexion that could not easily be mistaken. Yes he was a vampire and as they were typically disliked even loathed, he had been thrown in here. Vampire's hostile nature was common knowledge and few dared to hunt them given that they could become them if they were bitten making the task all the more dangerous. However there were those who did hunt vampires despite their dangerous work environment, not necessarily for a good reason but they hunted. The Traitor held them no ill will, they were there to protect those who were afraid, in theory. Although the actual truth was that those many of those men and the occasional woman were in the job for their own gain.

A sound rang through the empty hall, coming from above, the sound of the prison door opening. The dark elf's ears pricked up, seeing an opportunity to potentially insight fear in his cellmate, he immediately called over stating, "Hey, you hear that? The guards are coming, for you…" he said, his speech dissolving into quiet laughter.

"Baurus lock the door behind us!" A new voice called out, feminine and strong. The voice spoke with such authority and surety that the voice could not belong to one of the guards. No, this voice reminded him of some of the guards of high ranking officials that he had bi-passed in some of his contracts as a Shadowscale. The door slammed shut with such vigor that the pursuers of the voices must have been close.

"My sons…. They're dead, aren't they?" stated another voice, much older and sounding defeated but still leaving a hint of regality that often escaped middle and high level officials.

"We don't know that sir. The messenger only said that they had been attacked." Said the the feminine voice again sounding like she was attempting to convince herself of it. Which was confirmed when the older man stated "No, they're dead. I know it." They group rounded the corner and the Traitor rose to his feet in surprise. No, these were definitely not guards but actual warriors, dressed in full armor of a make that the Traitor was unfamiliar with and having large curved blades at their belts.

Numbering four in total they came to a stop in the front of his cell and stared in equal surprise which quickly transferred into anger. The woman rounded on the Redguard in their entourage, judging from the voice it was the Baurus character, "What's this prisoner doing here? This cell is supposed to be off limits!"

"Usual mix up at the watch, I um…" He trailed off, trying and failing to come up with an excuse for the Traitor's being there. A frustrated sigh escaped the women and she quickly said, "Never mind, get that gate open. Stand back prisoner we won't hesitate to kill you if you get in our way."

The Traitor obediently but calmly enough to make the women a little uncertain before sending the Baurus person in to reconnoiter his stance, backed to the far wall of the cell. The Redguard motioned with an outstretched finger for him to stay there. The entourage began to pass until the regal man sporting fine purple robes and a rather stunning red gem encrusted amulet about his neck that looked suspiciously like a certain item that was described in reports as the Amulet of Kings, an heirloom said to have the blood of Akatosh inside it. If this was the same then the Traitor was standing in front of the Emperor of Tamriel.

The Old Man paused in front of him as he passed making for the alcove portion of the Traitor's cell. Then he stopped and looked hard at the Traitor as if attempting to confirm the identity of the one he was seeing. "You… I've seen you." The Imperial stated cryptically. Moving closer despite the female Imperial, what the Traitor assumed to be the Captain's, attempts to dissuade him from moving too close to the Vampire. "Let me see your face." His eye's searched the Traitor's examining every nook and crany of his face and the Traitor could see the old man's own face falling from disbelief to grim acknowledgement. "You are the one from my dream. Then this is the day, God's give me strength."

"Emperor Uriel Septim, I presume?" The Traitor stated bowing low. "May I ask what is happening?"

The Emperor said, "Assassins have murdered my Sons and I am next. My blades are escorting me through a secret escape route that happens by chance to run through your cell."

The Captain said, "Sire, this is a common criminal and a vampire no less, you should not converse with the likes of him or his kind."

Septim turned calmly towards the Captain and admonished her kindly, "He is a citizen of Tamriel regardless of his more abnormal appetites. And for what he has done, it does not matter." The Old Emperor turned to the Traitor, "Those are not what he will be remembered for."

The Traitor watched the Emperor with growing curiosity and respect, the man seemed to be almost completely free of judgment and believed in the inert goodness in all people, even if he would normally think such a way of thinking to be naïve and childish.

Nevertheless, the Captain seemed to be less convinced and said, "Please Sire, we must keep moving." And turned to the wall alcove again which shuddered as if under extreme pressure and after which it opened and revealed the said passage way. The Traitor's eyes widened in surprise, he himself had gone through many a passage in his early training however the one here was so well hidden he had not seen it. It was an impressive show of excellence within the door and the mechanisms behind it.

"Better not close this one, there'll be no way to open it from the other side." The Captain said.

"Looks like it's your lucky day," Baurus said, addressing the Traitor, "Just stay out of our way." He then followed the Captain quickly watching both the uneven footing which threatened to trip him and sending him careening down the slippery slope, as well as the prisoner and served as the entourage's rear guard.

_For his small mistakes he really is an accomplished soldier_, observed the Traitor. Looking forward he observed the Captain. She was tired, exhausted even and judging from her strides, she was nervous about the possibility that the assassins were directly behind them. The Captain passed off her position to another one of the blades, a man called Glenroy, according to her.

She moved to the back where the Traitor walked over the slope with extreme ease. The ground was not very different from the more dense parts of Black Marsh, where everything was slick with grime and moisture. But naturally occurring gasses and quicksand preventing any other species from entering those primeval swamps. The Captain moved close so the Traitor could hear her threat, occasionally stumbling and cursing quietly. "Look, if you even think about attacking the Emperor and you take a step closer to him I will personally cut you down."

The Traitor kept walking, pretending to not have heard "Captain," he inquired, "Do you know what happens to a Vampire when you deny him or her, the ability to feed?"

One of her eyebrows rose in a question and assuming hostility, her hand fell to the hilt of her Akaviri katana. "Vampires do not require the foods and nourishment that most other species do and prefer to feast on blood," His snake-like red eyes rotated towards her, "you follow?" She nodded. "If vampires choose to not drink or are incapable of finding the nourishment necessary for them the more stereotypical signs of vampirism will begin to appear," He paused to point out the signs. "For Instance, intense burns caused by contact with sunlight." He said pointing to one of the many burns on his arms and necks. "Or perhaps the hungrier look, that I dare say you saw and assumed as a threat when you saw me." She continued to look at him, unrepentant. The Traitor smiled ruefully but slowly frowned when he saw the rather medium sized antechamber that they were entering. "STOP" He called, sensing the ambush.

Using the speed granted to him by stage four vampirism, the Traitor blitzed forward, just as the shadows hiding inside the upper alcoves hinted at the arrival of enemies.

The Assassins came pouring out, using conjured weapons and armor they rushed the Emperor and his entourage. The first of the assassins barely made it two steps before the Traitor was upon him. Stretching out his right hand, the Traitor vertically planted it over the assassin's face mask at the same time reaching behind his head and horizontally doing the same. Then he brutally ripped both hands in opposing directions resulting in a sickening snap. The conjured armor dispersed revealing an imperial in red robes with a cowl over his head.

Quick as a viper, the Traitor spied a steel dagger on the robe belt and snatching it, he tossed it up. Two of other assassins recognizing him as an immediate went to work each employing a radically different style as they approached. The final assassin went at the Captain, lunging and cracking the stone steps with his dremora war axe.

The dagger hit the floor causing one of the assassins with the mace to glance over, anticipating a new threat. The other assassin, sporting a war axe, charged, on time leaving his compatriot reeling to catch up. The momentary breach in concentration was all that the Traitor needed, he feigned movement which caused the war-axe wielding assassin to swing his axe around. Grabbing the corpse by the front of his robes he raised the body using it as a very-makeshift shield. The axe impacted it with a tremendous force, breaking skin, flesh and bones and stuck fast, lodged in the ribs. Dropping to the ground the traitor waited while other mace wielding assassin swung in the opposite direction and slightly lower connecting with the hips and throwing the other assassin completely off balance.

The Traitor rose off the ground at inhuman speeds elbowing the mace wielding assassin directly in the center of his armor, knocking the wind out him and making him stumble. Before the assassin fell back the Traitor grabbed the man's arm and wrenched the mace from his grip and in one swift motion smashed the assassin over the head breaking his skull.

The other assassin was now rising, war axe in hand to challenge the ex-Shadowscale. Throwing aside the deteriorating mace the traitor ran for the assassin and tackled him to the ground following up with an unarmed strike to the throat which made the assassin forget completely about attacking and began to thrash at his windpipe in a futile attempt to reconnect his oxygen supply. Grabbing the dagger from the assassin's belt he looked for rest of the entourage. Baurus, Glenroy and the Emperor had met with similar success but the Captain who was still fighting with the large assassin who had attacked her before was fairing badly. The Katana was kicked from her grasp as the Traitor watched and the assassin was preparing to finish her off.

The Traitor ran in a full out sprint as he attempted to stop what was about to happen. He was maybe twenty feet away from the scene when the Captain was knocked to the floor, "RENAULT!" roared Baurus also making for the attacker. The axe was rising to kill Renault and in that moment the Traitor made a loud hiss of exertion as he viciously flicked his wrist and threw the dagger. It flew in a beautiful yet deadly line and impacted the center of the assassin's lower back.

With the Traitor's enhanced strength, the dagger cut right through the weak armor plating and into the spinal column. The assassin cried out as the feeling of his lower body left him and his own legs crumpled under him. The Traitor caught him as he fell and took out the dagger making the man utter a muffled cry of extreme pain. Baurus hurried to Renault's side as she attempted to make sense of the fact that she had quite nearly died. She watched the Traitor as he dragged the still living but critically damaged assassin away from her. Clear fluid began to coat the floor, mixed with what appeared to be blood.

The argonian turned towards Renault and Baurus, "You may not want to watch this." He said in grim but anxious tone. He turned towards the assassin, who was feebly attempting to stop the flow of spinal fluid. The Traitor crouched down, "I apologize for this but you're dying and I need food," With that he leaned in and tearing the neck guard off the armor, sunk his fangs into the neck where the readiest blood supply laid. As he sated his now horrible thirst the man attempted to rid the vampire from him with his now very weak arms. It would have been more productive for him to close his eyes and place his hands over each other in a coffin-like state but he did not, he continued to struggle until he quietly fell into a lull caused by the combination of critical blood loss and loss of spinal fluid. When the Traitor was finished he rose, closed the eyes of the man, placing one hand over the other giving him a much more peaceful look than that of a man who had been killed in the savage manner that he had. Offering a prayer to first Arkay and then Stendarr, he prayed that those men killed today would not be held responsible for their attempted murder and would find themselves in a better place when they next woke.

The entourage had watched him in silence for those few minutes and when he turned only the bravest of them did not look away. Among these were the Captain Renault and Emperor Uriel Septim. The Traitor observed the mood of the room considering the feelings of the Blades and their Emperor. It was a perfectly reasonable assumption that the Blades would be disgusted with the action of sucking another's blood and mortified that it had happened right in front of them. Perhaps even seeking atonement for their lack of action by killing the one responsible but something told him that his own quick actions in dealing with 4 of the assassins, alone and after that saving one of their comrades had earned him a degree of grudging respect.

Baurus rose to his feet helping Renault to her own as well, who happened to be rapidly becoming the Captain that the team needed once again. "Thanks," she said uncertainly, addressing the Traitor. Baurus, looked at the rest of the entourage, "We'd better get moving," turning towards the vampire he said, "You'd better stay here prisoner," he said, "But… Thanks." Then they turned filing into position and marched in a protective formation around the Emperor and moved through the barred metal doors at the far side of the antechamber and closing and locking it behind them, they moved out.

Standing alone once again, the Traitor considered his next move and also considered the entourage that had passed him by. In retrospect the whole team had been very exhausted and the death of the Captain would be a major blow to the team morale so it was all the better for the team, the empire, and perhaps the Baurus person… The Traitor mused for a moment, connecting the threads of everything he knew about the two. It wasn't a great deal he knew but the way that the two acted around each other it was safe to say that they were at least very close friends if not more. _At any rate_, he thought, _I hope that I meet them again._

A crumbling noise could be heard from the wall directly left from him and a large shape lunged at him.

The Traitor's eyes flew open and he began to tense under his covers preparing to spring into the defense. All he saw was the large wooden barred ceiling of his private quarters in Rosethorn hall and realized with half irritation and half relief that the dream had been nothing more than one of the recurring memories that had imprinted on his brain. These dreams had been occurring more and more often and were starting to become a problem, he'd have to go and see Raminus as soon as possible to attempt to find a solution or they would begin to interfere with his day to day life more than they had already. For instance, he would thrash, mumble, toss and turn during the night making resting ever less revitalizing to both him and… his wife.

Turning to the left he saw her sleeping soundly, her soft, light green scales glinting in the fire light, the covers pulled slightly over her jaw line. Not wanting to wake her but unable to resist, the Traitor stretched out his right hand and taking her left cheek in his hand, stroked her cheek gently with his thumb. She stirred slightly and he retracted. He was still abundantly aware that his body temperature was much colder than most and would slightly disturb her if he held contact so long in the nighttime, of course, in the day they could hold contact as much as they pleased.

Slipping out of bed as quietly as could be expected of a person who was the Master of the Thieves Guild, he rose silently moving over to the drawn curtains to examine the time of day. Drawing one of them back slightly he saw that it was still the dead of the night. Quietly sighing he moved over to the wardrobe next to the window and donned his Black Hand robes allowing his cowl to hang about his shoulders, unused for the time being.

Moving over to the café style table he sat down and thoughtfully pinched the robes. The robes held a great history with him, not only being one of his primarily worn clothes but also because they were one of the things he had claimed from the now destroyed Dark Brotherhood. He hadn't necessarily kept them as a trophy but as more a very convenient means of going where it would be more dangerous for him to be seen, not to mention that he appreciated the color black, more associating it with Night then death. Opening his mouth he fingered the tip of his left fang testing their sharpness.

His red eyes refocused on his wife's sleeping form. He thanked Stendarr every day for the mercy that had been bestowed on his wife, her brother and himself. They had been the three sole survivors from the destruction that the divines had wrought, using all of them, primarily the Traitor, as their tools. Was it just? The Traitor thought about it for a moment, the outcome was undoubtedly just but did the end define justify the means? That was a far more difficult question. They had poisoned, lied, cheated, murdered, and for him, slaughtered mercilessly anyone and everyone, save two, associated with the organization. These had been questions that had plagued him from the time of the incident to now.

"Kaza?" An inquiring voice asked from across the room. His eyes adjusted themselves focusing on the origin of the voice; it came from the still form of his wife whose gleaming orange eyes watched him inertly.

"Can't sleep," he said, predicting his question. She knew that the memories were giving him no rest and that he woke up almost every night and just mulled over his past, often going to the forge to improve and repair his already impeccable armor and weapons. She rose from bed, wrapping a simple gray robe around her to protect herself from the slight chill that occasionally slipped in from the thin windows. Making her way towards him, she stumbled slightly throwing off the slight stupor that came from the immediate effects of waking up. Her feet barely making a sound as she moved across the thick carpet surrounding the bed. She approached is unmoving form and he lowered his head as she hugged his sitting form pressing his head against her chest.

"Where were you?" she asked, quietly looking at the night sky through the cracks between the curtain and the wall.

"The sewers, the day the Emperor died." He responded, equally as quiet. A slight tremor through her body told that she was surprised. She looked down at him, "Oh, I thought you'd be…" Her voiced decreased to a slight hiss of air leaving her lungs.

She held him for a while longer before he raised his head, looking at her intently. "Thank you, Ocheeva" he said, meaning every word of it. She said nothing but leaned down and kissed his forehead.

"Come on. Remember Renault and Baurus are coming over today, would be better if we weren't walking corpses when they come over." Taking his hands, Ocheeva slightly pulled encouraging him to rise and when he did made her way back to the bed, Kaza doing the same.

Not bothering with putting away their robes they took them off beside the bed letting them drop to the floor. The two ex-Shadowscales gracefully tumbled into bed, pulling the covers and themselves close they closed their eyes but something Ocheeva had said stuck with Kaza. _Oh, I thought you'd be… _in his mind Kaza finished the sentence, _Oh I thought you'd be where you slaughtered the entire Dark Brotherhood…_


End file.
